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Open for Business
by Kate Pavao, 12.02.03
"If you have a dream, with the right guidance, you can really go far." |
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Florentina Abrams wants young people to have a place to write. She wants undiscovered musicians and artists to get exposure. She wants to build a community. And she's making it all happen with Graffiti, a magazine she created with her best friend, Evelynn Hoffman. There's one last detail about Florentina that may surprise you — she's only 17.
Florentina and Evelynn launched Graffiti as an online magazine in 1999, when they were in the eighth grade, and expanded to print in 2002. Today, the magazine has six staff members and 30 volunteers.
Like Florentina and Evelynn, if you've got a business idea you're passionate about, you don't necessarily have to wait until you're an adult to make it happen. Here's how to get started.
Brainstorm!
Inspiration for your business can come from anywhere. "Basically, I was thinking of a present that would be good for a friend," says Andrew Levine, 15. He gave his friend a Web site for his birthday, and, realizing that Web sites make great gifts, founded BirthdayDomains.com. The online business allows gift givers to purchase a domain name for a friend.
Plan Your Budget
Get your idea mapped out and start working before you go on a major shopping spree. "You can waste a lot of money if you buy everything up front," says Andrew.
Of course, you're going to need some start-up money if you have to buy supplies, rent space, or create publicity materials. If your piggy bank's a little light, and your folks aren't eager to chip in, you can try to find an organization to sponsor you. Youth Venture, which helped Graffiti with its start-up costs, funds youth-led projects that give back to the community.
"It can be a for-profit business that decides to give a percentage of their profits to some sort of community organization," explains Youth Venture's National Partnership Director Jennifer Aspengren. "But the piece that we're most interested in is kids who are specifically addressing a community issue."
Find a Mentor
"Teen entrepreneurs need to be able to talk to someone with experience," says Danielle Vallee, author of Whiz Teens in Business. You may be able to find a mentor in your own family, or you might meet someone while researching a school project.
Get Heard
Publicity is an essential part of the process. "At the beginning, I didn't do any advertising and there were hardly any hits," says Andrew, who now advertises online and off. "It's really important to advertise in your own town because people you know in your own town spread the word a lot."
Consider the Pros and Cons
"One of the main things I like about [running a business] is I set my own hours," says Jason McAninch, 17. Jason started his first computer business when he was in the fourth grade and now runs J-TEK, a company that provides technological services, from repairing computers to designing databases.
But Jason has also had to learn to deal with demanding customers and major disappointments. In one case, a program he spent almost a year developing turned out to be unusable. "Starting a business and running it yourself is harder than working anywhere else because you have to do everything," he says.
There's also the issue of how customers react to Jason's age. One customer responding to an advertisement assumed he was an adult. "I told him I was 17, and he hasn't called me back since then," he says. But others are happy about Jason's age "because that way I have more time for them," he says.
All in all, some of the biggest benefits of running your own business are personal. Florentina says she never really believed in herself when she was younger. But since creating Graffiti, she's been featured in newspapers and won awards, and people in her community have recognized her. "If you have a dream, with the right guidance, you can really go far," she says. So what's your dream? |
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